Today the Sundance Institute announced that it will present the 2021 Vanguard Award to musician and filmmaker Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson for his work in documentary filmmaking on his directorial debut Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised). The award is also being presented to Siân Heder for her work on her feature film CODA. The two will be celebrated in an online presentation on Wednesday, October 20, 2021, featuring conversations with Thompson and Heder.
The Vanguard Award, annually honors artists whose work highlights the art of storytelling and creative independence. This year the award has expanded to honor the work of both a fiction and a nonfiction storyteller.
Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) – which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Fest – is Thompson’s directorial debut which he also executive-produced. Premiering under the U.S. Documentary section, the film won the Audience Award for U.S. Documentary and the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary. It is streaming on Hulu in conjunction with Disney General Entertainment’s Onyx Collective; Searchlight Pictures released it theatrically.
“We are especially honored to recognize the visionary and award-winning directors Siân Heder and Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson with the Vanguard Award. We were thrilled to bring enthusiastic audiences together at our Festival to experience the humanity, originality, and independent spirit of their culture-changing films. Siân and Ahmir join Sundance-supported directors Radha Blank, Ryan Coogler, Dee Rees, Marielle Heller, and others in this annual celebration of singular independent storytellers,” said Michelle Satter, Sundance Founding Senior Director, Artist Programs.
“I’m extremely honored to receive this award. Storytelling has always been the fiber of my creativity, be it DJing, writing articles/books, podcasting, or teaching. Of course, I share this honor with the entire team behind Summer Of Soul. It was an honor to bring this historic event to light for audiences to experience,” said Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.
The Sundance Institute’s Vanguard Award honors artists whose work and vision represent the highest level of breakthrough innovation, originality, and independent spirit, as fostered in the Institute’s artist programs. The award was created in 2012, and past recipients include Benh Zeitlin, Ryan Coogler, Damien Chazelle, Marielle Heller, Nate Parker, Dee Rees, Boots Riley, Lulu Wang, and Radha Blank. Leadership Vanguard honorees have included Glenn Close, Roger Ebert, George Gund, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and Quentin Tarantino. For the 2021 celebration, Acura continues their support of the award, which they have presented since 2015, and Variety serves as the Media Sponsor.
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